On the game:
"The first half was ridiculous; we didn't come to play. Whatever the reason, we just didn't come out to compete. USC did; they got physical and we backed off. They are good defensively, and we are playing with different lineups. We challenged Jorge (Gutierrez) at the half, and one guy playing hard got the whole team going. If we had done that the whole game, we wouldn't have been down 11 at the half and it would have been a whole different game."

On the offense:
"We are putting a lot of pressure on Jorge (Gutierrez) and our big guys. They have two 6-11 guys in there. We did well statistical, but (the post) is not a place we can dominate. It is a place we have to go, but we have to pick and choose. That put the three perimeter guys in a situation were they have to shoot. Jeff (Powers) was taking some shots. He didn't make them all, but he took shots."

On playing zone defense:
"What is going to happen in man is that you are more likely to get fouls at the point of attack. That is the thing we are trying to protect. The zone is not harder, but it is boring. Sometimes when guys know they are going to play a lot of minutes, they take some shortcuts, and the zone isn't very tight. Everybody is better when you are long, athletic and fast. They did a good job in their zone."

On his halftime talk:
"The worst thing that can happen is you lose, but at least you can lose playing hard. In the first half, everybody was trying to play one-on-one and not help each other out. Nobody was moving to get open. Nobody was setting screens to get open. "

On his first two career three pointers:
"I was taking them because I had to take them. That's about it. I always work on my shot, but that is not my strength so I never do it. I just felt I had to take it with the time left on the clock."

On Allen Crabbe's absence:
"We definitely missed Allen (Crabbe), but we had a chance to get it without him. That would have given Jeff (Powers) a lot of confidence when Allen gets back; it would have made our bench better. We missed Allen from every aspect of the game. He is a big part of our team. He helps us out a lot."

On Cal's comeback attempt:
"We knew after the talk Coach had with us at halftime we were going to come out hard. We should have played like that from the jump. We still had a chance, we just gave Maurice Jones some good looks. He made some shots."

On losing another close game:
"We are putting ourselves in a position to win games. The coaches just tell us to put ourselves in a position, and we have done that three times - Arizona, Washington State and tonight."